"TT2 Protocol... Joint Command... Assembly Summons... Angela, are these the documents I need to approve?"
X earnestly looked over the stack of documents in her hands. These were research proposals from the Control Department. Once she signed them, the corresponding functions would be unlocked, though, she could only pass one research at a time.
[TT2 Protocol]
Singularity technology provided by T Corporation, capable of altering the local time flow within the Corporation. Slowing down or speeding up time can help the Manager better manage employees and handle sudden unexpected emergencies.
[Joint Command]
Allows departments to cooperate with each other. The Control Department can command employees of other departments, enabling joint command training to cross departmental work lines, handle sudden incidents, or navigate emergencies.
[Assembly Summons]
Sends a pager signal to every employee, allowing them to quickly notify employees to return to their respective departments.
All of them were very useful, but the most useful one was undoubtedly [TT2 Protocol]. Without any suspense, X chose the [TT2 Protocol], acting as a diligent overtime loving Manager.
Manipulating time was an unfathomable technology, and even if it was just regional time, it was still extraordinary. X didn't know how much energy L Corporation had spent to trade for the usage rights of this technology from T Corporation, but it was certainly immeasurable.
What a wealthy Corporation...
X sighed. Upon closer inspection, most of the technologies applied in L Corporation's facilities were Singularities provided by other corporations, creating a rampant integration of Singularity technology.
Things like Regenerators and Mental Corruption Neutralizing Gas were always kept active for the employees, extravagant to the extreme.
[Manager, the TT2 Protocol has been signed and confirmed. Rational use of this technology will bring immense help to your work.]
Shortly after, once the protocol was signed, a few new buttons appeared on the desk console of X's monitoring station. From the icons alone, it was easy to understand what they meant.
[ Pause ][ Decelerate ][ Accelerate ][ Double speed ]. After applying the [TT2 Protocol], the rate of time flow in the Manager's room would differ from that of the employees' workspaces, creating a time dilation effect, relative acceleration and relative deceleration, or even putting another regional time sector into a relative standstill state.
It was an unbelievable technology, worthy of being called a miracle. Yet it was precisely this magic like, miraculous technology that qualified as a [Singularity technology]. To acquire the usage rights, the protocols L Corporation signed involved unimaginably massive fuel provisions.
Perhaps, only L Corporation, which never ran out of fuel, could use this technology so extravagantly and casually.
Before the official workday began, she still needed to chat with the Deans, notifying them that their departments would officially boot up and the workday was underway. Incidentally, it was also the time for the Deans to present their departmental demands to the Manager.
Though it was strange for Deans to delegate work to the Manager, in terms of standing, X truly was just a rookie Manager desperately trying to prove her capability to the Deans.
"Manager, your job isn't just about keeping those Abnormalities under control; you also have to maintain their emotional states, ensuring they can produce as many PE-Boxes as possible while in a good mood.
That's the top priority, everything else comes second!"
"Please ensure that the employees achieve an 'Excellent' rating on their work evaluations. I believe you can do it!"
Control Department's Dean Malkuth was, as always, full of energy, vitality, and cuteness. That expectant gaze was truly capable of motivating X, who had no desire to let Malkuth down. On the other hand, another Dean, Safety Department's Dean Netzach, was just as devoid of enthusiasm as ever.
The fact that Netzach could still even form thoughts after getting knocked out by Enkephalins could almost be considered a miracle. Even standing straight was a challenge for her, so it would be a miracle if work didn't go wrong under her watch. Yet, whether it was Malkuth or Angela, they all seemed used to it; only X found it unexpected.
On the screen, a half asleep Netzach yawned lazily and stated her demands.
"Whatever... There isn't half a safe place in this ghost Corporation. Can you at least try to prevent employee deaths?"
That essentially meant asking X to avoid employee fatalities. The Safety Department Dean had slacked off to the point of having zero expectations for the employees. As the Manager, she naturally had to shoulder this responsibility and take charge of the employees' safety.
Proving her capabilities to the 'Arrogant' Dean...
Of course, this was a winning bet no matter what. Because the composite Singularity technologies provided by T Corporation and W Corporation supported X's ability to [Restart this day]. When the situation became irrecoverable, Abnormalities escaped en masse, and all employees died, it was time to [Restart the Day].
Aside from the Manager and the Manager's Secretary AI, no one would remember this failed workday, probably?
As long as it didn't reach a total dead end where the board was unsalvageable, [Restarting this day] could solve all problems.
[Manager, do you find the Corporation's technology unfathomable? Please feel free to use it. All of this is for the sake of work, for the Corporation's Energy Quota, to properly manage those obnoxious monsters, and utilize these necessary technologies.]
"...Angela, I was just wondering: since we can always restart the day and resurrect any dead employees, why do so many casualties still happen?"
X stared at the buttons on her desk console. Localized rewind would return a specific regional area back to a starting point; all casualties and escaped monsters would revert to their original states. Yet, even with this technology, casualties were still immeasurable.
[Haven't you already realized? When the value of a lost employee is not enough to compare with the energy you've acquired... You can understand it. The meaning of an employee's existence is to serve the Corporation and harvest energy.]
"Let the workday begin, Angela... I'll learn well."
The Secretary's expressed ideology was very clear, the Corporation's AI stood by the Corporation's stance. And X herself, as the Manager, also represented the Corporation's stance. Empathizing with employees was secondary; what truly mattered was the Energy Quota.
As for the employees themselves, who they were as distinct, breathing individuals, that was something the Department Deans, who lived and worked with them day in and day out, had to deal with. Because the Deans were the ones who actually interacted with the employees, while the Manager was merely responsible for giving orders, leaving the Deans and employees to execute them.
There was no need to remember the employees' names. No need to remember their hobbies or backgrounds. Perhaps remembering a face or two was all that was needed, and even then, only if work demanded it.
Wasn't the contradiction obvious...? The Deans would sympathize with the employees they worked alongside every day, whereas the Intelligent AI would not. And X herself was being forced to become a Manager who saw nothing but the Energy Quota in her eyes.
At least the work was relatively easy for now, and X could try her best to minimize casualties.
The screen displayed the Control Department and the newly opened Safety Department, where the Abnormality with the Subject Number [F-02-44] was housed in the newly opened Safety Department facility.
This was an ugly looking Abnormality, perfectly fitting the standard of a "monster." Even under the Cognition Filter, one could still tell how hideous and nauseating its appearance was.
It was a four legged grotesque creature covered in brown fur. Its hind legs resembled the limbs of some kind of insect, while its front legs looked like freakishly deformed human thighs, unbalanced front and rear, evoking an uncanny valley effect.
Its front right leg was black, resembling firewood charred and dried from a corpse, damp and moldy with colorful mottled spots. Yet on both legs, there were four red toes, complete with human joints.
Its face was covered in countless protruding, swollen green eyeballs, and its mouth was a woman's torn maw, flanked by insect like suction cups on both sides.
Growing from its forehead were two beast horns curving downwards like ram's horns, and blooming upon the horns were unknown purplish red flowers, looking as though these flower buds had sprouted directly from deep within the monster's flesh.
Its belly was covered in black, thorn like coarse fur. Two openings, perhaps ears or perhaps scar like holes, were glued together, and trailing at the end was a stiff tail that looked as though it had been roughly stitched on.
Next, management of this monster was required.
X subconsciously wanted to rely on that flickering Lobotomy Logo simulator, but the simulator showed zero response.
Was it not working...?
After clicking repeatedly to no avail, X vaguely realized something, because the full name of the simulator was [Lobotomy Corporation Simulator — The Best Love Simulator].
A love simulator clearly couldn't be used for work, even though this whole situation had nothing to do with love.
Unless being unilaterally punished by a rebellious Intelligent AI or getting disciplined by a Department Dean somehow counted as love...
As expected, when it came to working, she could only rely on the Corporation's built in [TT2 Protocol].
X subconsciously glanced at the Secretary. The AI Secretary kept her eyes closed, lost in thought. Ever since X had first set eyes on Angela, Angela had almost always had her eyes closed, yet she could walk around with her eyes shut without ever bumping into a wall.
Just as X was mindlessly contemplating using employees as guinea pigs for trial and error, the unresponsive simulator suddenly booted up again.
[System upgrade complete... Simulator has been updated...]
[Lobotomy Corporation Simulator — The Best Office Work and Love Integration Love Simulator]
[New features unlocked: First-person Scene Immersion, Affinity check, Achievement Index, Reward accumulation]
A few new options appeared on the interface, bubbling with overly girlish pink air bubbles. If one ignored the brain shaped logo icon and the bright yellow warning tape, it might actually look like a real dating sim.
X had zero interest in the 'System Achievement' feature, and the 'First-person Scene Immersion' made her shudder slightly. The only two useful functions were 'Affinity Check' and 'Reward Accumulation.'
Under the Affinity Check section, all the Intelligent AIs she had encountered so far were listed with their corresponding profile pictures and favorability bars underneath, though the practical use of it seemed roughly equivalent to zero.
Her loyal, dependable, and trustworthy Secretary AI Angela's affinity was displayed as [???]. Her thoughtful and warm Control Department Dean Malkuth's affinity was shown as [???]. Her lazy, laid back addict Dean Netzach's affinity was also shown as [???].
Everything was just question marks, utterly meaningless. Aside from affinity, there was also a "reliability" stat, which was the only thing visible, but as of right now, it held no practical use or significance whatsoever.
The reliability stat for the AI Secretary, the one X wanted to know most, was also displayed as three question marks. Was it simply not showing up, or was it some other kind of situation...
Meanwhile, Control Department Dean Malkuth's status showed [Trusts the Manager], while Safety Department Dean Netzach's showed [Dislike]. This indicated that the simulator's functions were likely working normally; this was just how things stood.
It matched X's expectations. Malkuth was the one who always believed in her abilities, whereas the pessimistic Netzach held zero expectations for the Corporation, including the newcomer Manager.
As for [First-person Scene Immersion]... X could only say she would never, under any circumstances, try it. Any scenario labeled like that sounded utterly terrible no matter how you thought about it.
[The simulation has started ——]
[Day 2 —— The Oppressor]
[Today you assimilated a New Monster and housed it in the newly opened Department. You knew absolutely nothing about the monster's information, yet you still needed to perform management work on it.]
[You ordered a newly arrived employee to perform Attachment work on the monster. The work ended with a terribly bad result, and the employee suffered severe mental trauma.]
[You ordered a newly arrived employee to perform Instinct work on the monster. The work ended with a terribly bad result, and the employee suffered severe mental trauma.]
[You ordered a newly arrived employee to perform Insight work on the monster. The work ended with a terribly bad result, and the employee's mental state was extremely poor. Dean Netzach asked you to check the employee's mental state for her, but you refused.]
[The mentally unstable employee was beaten to death by an employee from another Department, but work continued. After a series of trials, you discovered that performing Repression work on the monster had a very high success rate.]
[When you ordered another Safety Department employee to perform Repression on the monster, the employee collapsed inside the Containment unit.]
[You discovered that the monster inside the Containment unit was dead, and the Safety Department employee had transformed into a New Monster.]
[All employees in the Safety Department are dead...]
[Continue simulation or stop simulation]
X intended to stop the simulation, but she still wanted to know the consequences of making mistake after mistake during the work, and what kind of outcome awaited her if she did a terrible job completing her tasks.
[Continue ——]
[Although all the employees of the Safety Department sacrificed their lives, they traded precious intelligence for you. You realized that the monster cannot endure consecutive Repression work; performing other types of work after Repression allows the monster to recover its health.]
[You successfully completed the Corporation's Energy Quota. Upon ending the workday, you earned the Safety Department Dean's sarcastic gaze and cold mockery. She ridiculed you as an oppressor who sees nothing but fuel, a heartless tyrant.]
[You remained indifferent to this, and even the Control Dean, who had always trusted you, cast a disappointed look your way.]
[After getting off work, you were lectured by Angela. Due to the Deans' complaints, Angela punished you...]
[Your psyche has collapsed...]
[Achievement unlocked —— What more do you want from me?!]
[Warm reminder: While the Energy Quota is important, do not ignore the Deans' feelings.]
[Please choose this result's reward:
1. Fortitude (+1)
2. Prudence (+1)
3. Temperance (+1)
4. Justice (+1)]
[First-person Scene Immersion: Yes/No]
The newly added feature was also displayed above. X usually kept her distance from such things, but for some reason, right at the moment Angela asked her if she wanted coffee, X accidentally blurted out a "Yes."